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Malaysia investigates its airline flight crash in Ukraine. Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak is launching an investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines’s Boeing 777 in war-torn Eastern Ukraine, which had 295 people on board. So far US intelligence officials have confirmed that a ground-to-air missile downed the plane (paywall).

Berlusconi faces the fire.An appeal ruling is expected for the former Italian prime minister for convictions of abusing power and engaging a 17-year-old in prostitution. If denied, he faces a seven-year prison term.

GE sits on big decisions. GE’s second-quarter earnings come after striking its biggest acquisition in history, to buy Alstom’s power assets for $16.9 billion. And the pending IPO of its consumer finance arm, Synchrony Financial, could be the US’s biggest public offering this year.

Americans embrace economic ca-ching. The country’s July consumer sentiment survey is expected to show that its consumers feel more confident about the economy than they did in June.

Australia scrapped its carbon tax. Environmentalists denounced the country’s decision to be the first developed nation to repeal laws that put a price on greenhouse gas emissions. No wonder: Australia is one of the world’s biggest per capita carbon emitters.

Dan Frommer on Microsoft preparing for its new role as the underdog. “In reality, Microsoft is now an underdog, and new CEO Satya Nadella seems to get that. Sure, Windows still runs more than 90% of desktop and laptop PCs sold worldwide. But the near-term future of the computer industry isn’t just PCs—it’s also mobile devices, including phones and tablets. With that broader definition of a computer, Microsoft Windows powered just 14% of computers shipped last year, according to Gartner. In a software era defined by cross-device continuity and network effects, Microsoft doesn’t have nearly enough.” Read more here.

Stop the “this weekend” vs. “next weekend” madness. The second weekend from now should be called “oxt weekend.”

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